Utilizing media to promote social change in Vietnam with Safety Delivered

The photo contests will occur at 18 target schools from June 11-30, 2020, in which students will be encouraged to develop ideas for photos among their classmates, as well as the volunteers with their family members, giving students the opportunity to think critically about road safety in a collaborative way. The photos will be shared through various AIP Foundation social media channels, which will reach both national and global audiences.

“Seeing my students flex their creativity in this photography contest to show what road safety means to them, gives me hope that we can encourage more helmet-wearing among our students,” Mr. Dang Thai Binh, Principal of Binh Khanh primary school shared.

“We are glad that Safety Delivered is engaging students in conversations about road safety in such a creative manner. It’s never too early to engage children on safe road habits, and through awareness-raising activities such as these, we hope to promote sustainable, safer road habits at schools in the communities where we operate,” said Russell Reed, Managing Director, UPS Thailand and Vietnam.

With the support and guidance of Ho Chi Minh City and Thai Nguyen Traffic Safety Committee and Departments of Education and Training, Safety Delivered will also proceed to install 573 billboards at 360 primary school gates in Ho Chi Minh City and at 220 schools in Thai Nguyen, reminding parents that both they and their children must wear a helmet when riding to school, and will reiterate the dangers of non-helmet use whenever riding a motorcycle or bicycle at all times.

“We have seen that behavior change begins with families, so we are very glad to support the billboard installations to remind parents and the community of their role as crucial role models to help their children practice safer road behaviors,” said Mr. Tan Hoang Long, Chief Secretariat of the Thai Nguyen Province Traffic Safety Committee.

The third component of the multimedia campaigns involves the airing of AIP Foundation’s public service announcement, “Love your child, provide a helmet,” a moving video of a child on a motorcycle with her parents while not wearing a helmet. The public service announcement will continue to be aired at Cho Ray and Nhi Dong II national hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Duc national hospital in Hanoi, and a provincial hospital in Thai Nguyen. At Cho Ray and Nhi Dong II national hospitals, the public service announcement will be aired over 900 times per day from April to November 2020, reaching patients, their relatives, and hospital staff.

“Engaging beneficiaries through media is crucial,” said Mirjam Sidik, CEO of AIP Foundation. “We prioritize ensuring that the messages we send to the public, whether it is a hospital patient, student, parent, or school official, are consistent and recurring, which means that individuals are constantly being reminded of safe road behaviors so that they do not forget how life-saving a helmet can be.”

Schools are selected based on a variety of vulnerability criteria, including proximity to large, busy roads with many vehicles traveling. At target schools in Ho Chi Minh City, the pre-observation helmet-wearing rate of students was just 23%. Following intervention, the rate increased to 77%. In Thai Nguyen, the pre-intervention helmet-wearing rate was 27% and increased to 80% post-intervention.

Through Safety Delivered, 10,942 total helmets will be distributed across Vietnam during the 2019 - 2020 school year to students, teachers, parents, victims of road crashes, and their families.